{"id":396391,"date":"2026-04-13T15:04:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T15:04:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/396391\/"},"modified":"2026-04-13T15:04:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T15:04:12","slug":"paddy-mckillen-jnrs-bid-to-set-aside-bankruptcy-summons-to-be-heard-in-may-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/396391\/","title":{"rendered":"Paddy McKillen jnr\u2019s bid to set aside bankruptcy summons to be heard in May \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Businessman Paddy McKillen jnr\u2019s<\/a> bid to set aside a bankruptcy summons issued against him over an alleged \u20ac2.1 million debt will be heard by the High Court in May.<\/p>\n

When the matter was mentioned before Judge Liam Kennedy on Monday, he set a hearing date for May 11th.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Paddy McKillen jnr takes legal challenge disputing alleged \u20ac2.1m debtOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

The judge was told by barrister Keith Farry, for McKillen jnr of Torquay Road, Foxrock, Dublin, the necessary legal documents had been exchanged between the sides. <\/p>\n

Barrister Niall \u00d3 hUiginn, represented Herbert Street Finance unlimited company (HSF), the creditor who issued the bankruptcy summons. <\/p>\n

The summons, a first step in bankruptcy proceedings, was issued in late January. It alleged McKillen jnr would have committed an act of bankruptcy unless he paid an alleged debt of \u20ac2.1 million or applied to have the summons dismissed on grounds he was not indebted to HSF in any sum, or only in the sum of \u20ac20,000.<\/p>\n

\"\"\u201cBack yourself\u201d: Aimee Connolly shares her story of 10 years in business<\/p>\n

In the 10 years since Aimee Connolly founded the viral beauty brand Sculpted by Aimee, it\u2019s become a multi-million euro enterprise with plans to increase its revenues this year by 25 per cent.Today, Ciaran asks about her early days as an entrepreneur, starting the business with \u20ac10,000 in savings, and her tips on leadership, scaling, and plans to enter the lucrative US market.Connolly tells Inside Business that her supply chain – with some products coming from South Korea – have been impacted by delays in freight getting through the Middle East.\u201cI remain optimistic and hope that whatever happens [in the conflict] we\u2019ll be able to pivot\u201d she says.Following the ceasefire between the US and Iran which began on Tuesday, Cliff Taylor of The Irish Times explains the impact of falling oil prices, and the jump in European and Asian stock markets.Produced by Andrew McNair and JJ Vernon.\u00a0<\/p>\n

HSF claimed the \u20ac2.1 million debt arose on foot of McKillen jnr covenanting to pay on demand the obligations of Cool Dust Ltd to HSF up to a maximum \u20ac3 million. <\/p>\n

It claimed sums of \u20ac2.3 million were received in part payment of Cool Dust\u2019s obligations but about \u20ac2.14 million remained due and owing, plus daily interest. <\/p>\n

Farry told the High Court in early March he was seeking to set aside the summons and the matter would be \u201cfully contested\u201d. McKillen jnr, the court heard, denies he is indebted to HSF in any sum exceeding \u20ac20,000.<\/p>\n

The bankruptcy matter was adjourned for mention to April 13th. Prior to that listing, McKillen jnr issued separate proceedings disputing liability for the alleged \u20ac2.1 million debt. <\/p>\n

In those, he claims a December 2022 facility agreement between Cool Dust, himself and HSF is void and unenforceable and no sum is due by him to HSF.<\/p>\n

Among various claims, he alleges HSF did not have authorisation under the Central Bank Act to enter into any such agreement and, as a result, a guarantee and indemnity executed by him in December 2022 is void and\/or unenforceable.<\/p>\n

In other claims, it is alleged McKillen has been wholly or partially discharged from his obligations under the guarantee and indemnity due to material alterations to the facility agreement made without his knowledge or consent, including application of funds received from third parties without his consent and alleged transactions\/dealings of which he was unaware.<\/p>\n

He is also claiming damages on grounds including the bankruptcy proceedings are an abuse of process and for alleged breach of contract. <\/p>\n

Other orders sought include to have the dispute sent to mediation.<\/p>\n

McKillen jnr has been the figure behind many of Dublin\u2019s best known entertainment and dining venues over the past 20 years. <\/p>\n

Founded with his school friend Matt Ryan, Press Up grew fast by developing its own restaurants and existing, successful operations including Elephant & Castle and Wowburger and a number of hotels and cinemas.<\/p>\n

At one point, it had more than 2,000 staff across 50 venues, but by September 2024, Cheyne Capital had taken a majority stake in the business, later renaming it Eclective Hospitality Group. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Businessman Paddy McKillen jnr\u2019s bid to set aside a bankruptcy summons issued against him over an alleged \u20ac2.1…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2406,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[72,73,61,60,59971],"class_list":["post-396391","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-high-court","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-paddy-mckillen-jnr"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396391","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=396391"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396391\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2406"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=396391"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=396391"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=396391"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}